2 Cents on the Trades

So the Pirates made two trades today.

Here's some finer details on the players in the Hinske trade. I'm completely fine with this trade. We traded a role/bit player and got a return. Fine by me.

Now the second trade is a little tougher to gauge.

My first reaction is that I don't like bringing a guy who's been a cancer onto the team. I'm also concerned about his ability to play good defense in the vastness of PNC's LF.

However, thinking about it more, when you're the Pirates, you have to do this trade. It could be a great buy low (Milledge) and sell high (Morgan) for them.

Milledge has never really been able to string together a couple of full seasons. He's a former first round pick, with a small track record and pedigree, who's shown some flashes of being a good/above average player.

Recall too, just a few years ago, that GM God himself, Billy Beane, was rumored to be scorching his shorts over this guy. His continuing to ask for Milledge in trades for Haren and Zito, was always a deal breaker when he talked to the Mets.

So is Milledge's potential still there? Is it worth it to find out?

I say yes.

I don't put any stock into the Nats sending him down this year. Hell, they sent him down after only one week of the season, after they had played 4% of their games for the season. Who does that? With that line of thought, the Yankees should have sent A-Rod down last year in April.

I think too that they sold high on Morgan. I like him, but recall that he barely made the team out of Spring Training. He's down to hitting .277 with an OBP of .350 after finishing April hitting around .340. Again, this is just the type of move the Pirates need to do.

Time as always will tell, but as of now, you gotta pull this trigger.

Even the oft quoted Scouts expert from ESPN, Keith Law, had this to say:

"Easy win for Pittsburgh, especially with Hanrahan thrown in for free."

To Bulk Up, or Not...

It is an age old question for professional athletes in general, but a tricky one for those who rely on speed.

In today's Trib, there was an article about Steelers' WR Santonio Holmes, no relation to John, wanting to add some bulk, to increase strength and speed, before the start of camp.

He says that he's going to be about 8-10 pounds over his playing weight of last year to start camp, then lose it in camp, but keep the extra strength. Sounds all well and dandy, but let's hope that he doesn't keep that extra weight on. I also gotta wonder how well even that "extra strength" will work for him.

I fail to see how adding extra weight and strength increases speed though.

There is caution here, especially for a player like Holmes that relies on his breakaway speed as a primary weapon.

As a Penn State fan, I recall Derrick Williams adding 10 pounds of muscle, for these same reasons, after his Freshman year. Suffice to say, he wasn't quite as quick and speedy his Sophomore year and therefore he wasn't as effective.

Also this season coming up in the NFL, superstar Adrian Peterson is planning on adding 10 pounds of muscle. Again, he's a big back as is, but his breakaway speed and elusiveness or incredible. How though will that extra weight affect that? His coach said it best:

"Vikings head coach Brad Childress agreed with Nelson Peterson in nixing the notion that bigger translates to better.

"Just put a 10-pound sack of potatoes on your back and think of how that works for you," Childress said."

For a concrete example, and one who realized the mistake of bulking up, look at Pirates' SS Jack Wilson. Heading into 2006, he added 20 pounds of weight to bulk up and "add power". Well, to do that, he sacrificed his great range on defense and become less of a player. The next year, he slimmed back down and got that range and quickness in the field back. Said Wilson:

"I just got wide. I got wide in the shoulders, and my first step wasn't as quick as it used to be. Most of the reason why I'm here is for defensive reasons. That's my bread and butter, and that's what I've got to get back to, getting to balls that I'm used to getting to."

So back to Holmes. Sure, time will tell as to whether this works or not, but the precedent is there, and warning signs are all over, that this isn't a good move for a speedy athlete.

Big Week Coming Up

This week coming up is a pretty major one when it comes to the immediate, short-term, and long-term future of two of Pittsburgh's sports teams.

1. Sure there's on the field action this week with the Pirates, and this week could be one of their most important of the season, so we'll start there.

We've won our 4 outta 6, at worst, against Cleveland and KC, that the rest of this homestand (Cubs and one Mets' game) is the most important stretch so far this season.

Win or lose today against Greinke, but we're still within striking distance of the .500 stepping stone, which is a good spot for us to be in at this juncture of the season based on early season predictions.

However, tank and lose 3 outta 4 to the Cubs/Mets, and we are just right back to the verge of having the season slip away.


2. Continuing with the Buccos, this is finally the week where we see how we stand with Sano, the prized prospect from the Dominican. July 2 is the start of the signing period for International Prospects.They've stated that they're not just gonna throw a truck of money at this kid, but they are going to offer him "value".

We've had a good season so far with our draft, trades, and beefing up our minors, as noted before, but signing this kid would be the icing on the cake and be a major coup for us.

In addition to the July 2 date, there's a chance that we may have offers and/or signings this week for two of our highly regarded pitching prospects that we just drafted.


3. As we remain in the glare coming off the Stanley Cup, this is a major week for the future of the Pens as the free agent signing period begins on July 1. This article here details it out.

I can't speculate too much, and who knows what to expect, but don't assume that all the players, especially Scuderi, will be with us next year.

Actually, speaking of Scuderi, I think the Pens are already planning on him not being here anymore after seeing their 1st round pick in the draft. Reading the descriptions of this kid, he sounds just like a younger Scuderi.

We shall see.

But pay attention as this week coming up will go a long way towards the rest of this baseball season, the upcoming and next couple hockey seasons, and the short and long term success of the Pirates.

Next MLB 300 Game Winner

Recently, there was some discussion of a dying breed in MLB...the 300 game winner. When Randy Johnson won his 300th game there was discussion about the next possible pitcher to win 300 games. Many said it may never happen again. They claim the 300 game winner heading into extiction is due to... 5 man rotations, pitch counts, high salaries and erratic bull pens. Many focused on current pitchers that have won 100 games by the age of 28, giving them another 10-12 years to win the other 200 or so. A few that were mentioned were... CC Sabathia, Johan Santana, Mark Buehrle and a few others. I feel the most likely was omitted. Former Pirate, Tim Wakefield. A knuckleball pitcher can last longer than the "normal" type of hurler. Phil Niekro pitched until he was 48. It is conceivable that Tim could pitch until 48 or even 50. Tim will be 43 years old this August and stays in great shape. At this point in time ( June 25th ) Wakefield has 187 wins. If we give Wake only 5 more wins this year he ends 2009 with 192 wins. Needing 108 after that to reach the coveted 300, pitching through his 48th birthday, he would have 6 years left. He could reach 300 by averaging 18 wins per season. If he plays until he's 50 he could reach 300 by averaging 13.5 victories. Not impossible since he is with such a good team. What is more likely is that Tim would win 8 more games this year...bringing his career total to 195 at the end of this year. Thus he would only have to play until he was 49 years old ( his uniform number ) and average 15 wins per season. I'm sure if he were 5-10 victories short, he would try for the extra season at age 50. The next few years will be crucial. If Wake can average 17 wins in the next 4 years he would only be 37 short and only 46 years old. A worst case scenario is that Wakefield could wind up like Hoyt Wilhelm or Early Wynn hanging on to get #300. However, that would be a sure-fire ticket to the Hall of Fame. It would be very possible that by age 49 needing less than 10 victories would drive him to play long enough to reach the milestone.

doyle 37

Morning Dump 6/25

It's been a while since I've done a morning dump here, almost as if I was backed up from eating a wheel of cheese.

But alas, at some point, all things break open, thus today's dump.

Also speaking of cheese, let's start out with a perfect compliment, some wine. And this is courtesy of present Pittsburgh whiner Ian Snell.

- Snell is on thin ice in the ML rotation, and he does have one minor league option remaining. Both are detailed in this article, as well as Snell's complaining about how "tough" it is to have had 3 different pitching coaches in the last few years etc. Meanwhile, all the rest of the staff has better numbers currently under Kerrigan, except Snell. Even in the article it states:

"Kerrigan recently helped Snell revert to many of his previous mechanics that made him successful in 2007."

Sorry Ian, your excuse falls flat.

GM Neal Huntington said it best in the article:

"He gets worried about things which are beyond his control."

In that end, Snell needs to either grow up and deal with it, or get sent down to deal with it. Smizik is on that bandwagon too.

- Just as frustrating about Snell is this article, where he says:

"It's a matter of keeping too much information out of my brain, thinking too much," Snell said. "We (have) a game plan and it's going through my head, like, 'I've got to throw this here and that there,' instead of just blocking it out and pitching the ball. I'm going to have to deal with it."

Well jeez Ian, if you haven't figured out how to effectively pitch and deal with the mental side of it by now, in your 4th year as a starter, you're not gonna get it.

- Speaking of the Pirates, they broke out the hurtin bats last night and pounded the Injuns. Adam LaRoche continued to up his trade value with a big night and Zack Duke continued his resurgence (under a new pitching coach, are you paying attention Snell?). The rubber match of the series is today.

- Now good Pirates' news, Mr. MuCutchen deserves some early chatter in the Rookie of the Year category.

- Again, the best Pirate news may be in the minors, as Lincoln dazzles in his AAA debut, and Alvarez homers in his second AA game.

- A quick note on the Pens, Game 7 was a ratings boom for NBC nationally, but especially here in the area. Right now, there's a nice afterglow on the Pens' season, a quiet calm before the storm of free agency.

- Finally, speaking of calm before the storm, I'm still relishing the Steeler off season. I do get burnt out by the end of the season and just need to step away. There's been some minor news here and there, but nothing too major. So I did though go to the Steelers' P-G site and was appalled by this. If anyone goes on there and prints out any of those to hang up or use, I will personally consider punching you in your face.

The Future's So Bright?

That in fact, yes, I gotta wear shades.

Let's talk a little Bucco baseball. So the Pirates went to the shit tank over the weekend at Denver. Game 1, they couldn't hit a damn thing. So between Games 1 and 2, they took some extra BP, and did much better. It's just too bad that they're setup man grooved an 0-2 pitch down the middle that was driven for a game-tying 3 run homer in the 8th. Yesterday's Game 3 of the series was close, but the "ace of the staff" was spotted a 3-0 lead and couldn't do jack squat with it. "Pitiful" isn't a strong enough word.

So the ML team has lost 5 in a row to go to a season worst 31-38. They've been teetering on collapse all month, but finally may have hit it.

But fear not Bucco faithful and other Kool-Aid drinkers, the future looks great for our Pirates.

1. 2 words: Andrew McCutchen. Nuff said.

2. Former first rounder Brad Lincoln was promoted to AAA over the weekend.

3. Last years' first rounder Pedro Alvarez, after going on a home run tear in Lynchburg, was promoted to AA.

4. This year's first rounder Tony Sanchez is playing already.

5. The Pirates signed their second round pick from this year, Brooks Pounders. No word yet on how much they had to pay Vivid Video for the royalties to get his name back.

So all in all, as an organization, things are on the up and up. It's gonna be a fun couple years watching these guys come through the system. Sure, the ML club will still suck hind tit, but only for the time being.

Smizik had a good blog post today, wondering who's next on the trade block. As much as I like the players, I root for the name on the jersey. All of these guys are tradable, should the return be right. We've gotten a lot of better players in our minors now, and soon enough, talent will percolate to the top.

So hang on ye Pirate faithful. Calmer seas lay ahead.

Introducing The Mad Griffin

Drum roll, please...no, seriously. Far from an old hand at this sort of thing. I'm just a long-time Pirate fan who likes to think he may know a thing or two about Bucco baseball. You may disagree and that's okay, too. I chose the moniker "The Mad Griffin" because things make me mad, just not necessarily what you might think. See, it's too easy to get mad about the obvious things like the Pirates losing. That's a beaten and bludgeoned topic if there ever was one. No, I get mad over the more minute details, like whether or not the Nate McLouth trade was a good trade. In short, YES I believe it WAS a good trade. What makes me mad about it is those who complain that Nate was traded because he was POPULAR. Look, good baseball decisions aren't always POPULAR decisions. This wasn't the ARam deal (now that TRADE made me MAD). Look, to hold Neal Huntington and Frank Coonley accountable for the previous 15 years prior to their arrival is utter nonsense. Finally, it appears we have a management team that has an actual plan - a good plan. And, please, do not buy into any team's PR jargon about "core" players, like the Pirates did when they signed Nate to his contract extension and proclaimed him part of their "core". It was PR - plain and simple. Lets face it - a team such as the Pirates will make ANY player available for the right return, "core" player or not. If some team offers Huntington the moon for Paul Maholm, you can bet the farm Maholm is an ex-Pirate. That's the way it SHOULD be. Fans buying Pirates jerseys and getting their favorite player name and number stitched on the back should remember that they're likely wearing a relic quicker than they think. Small-market players are transient. That's the reality of 21-st century MLB. So, please, don't get upset you just dropped a nice chunk of change on that #13 McLouth jersey. Stick with the retired players. At least you know THEY'RE not getting traded.

See Craig Monroe was designated for assignment after tonight's Bucs-Rox game. Steve Pearce has been recalled from AAA Indianapolis. Whether Pearce will be a solid contributor is open for discussion, but Monroe needed to GOOOO! What makes me mad about the situation isn't the fact Monroe was designated or that the Bucs signed him in the first place. It was that the guy was worthless as a pinch-hitter, slow as molasses, and then couldn't believe he was actually sent packing and wasn't given opportunities. What??? Here's an idea, Craig. If you had actually PRODUCED when called upon, you might still have a roster spot. Maybe it's just me. Silly me.

No Fat People Allowed

Sound like the best place ever?

Yup, of course it does.

Alas, it's only Steelers' Training Camp that we're talking about.

Coach Tomlin today called out Casey Hampton, and basically told him not to come to camp as an out of shape lardass.

No word on whether Hampton will ingest castor oil before team dinner to start a big 'Barf-o-Rama', a la one young Davey Hogan, to get revenge on Tomlin and the team.

Defensive Minded

Never too early to think Penn State football, well for me anyway and I'm all that matters right now.

Since the Vegas Jesus and his West Coastedness took dibs on the Pirates' game yesterday, which makes me quite sad as I was all set to use this to talk about the LaRoche brothers going yard, I'm gonna comment on an interview I read yesterday with Tom Bradley.

Wormser on ESPN had a good 2 part interview with him. Part 1 is here. Part 2 can be found here.

It basically boils down to the fact that the D was great last year. They were ranked 8th Nationally in scoring defense, total defense, and rushing defense. There are some major holes to fill though, starting on the defensive line with Maybin and Evans. After that, they lost a "lot" in the secondary. They lost all of their starters. They have guys coming back that played, but didn't start. Bradley says that Spring Practice was a litle rough as some players had to find their footing.

Now I put "lot" in quotes because, in my uncontestable opinion, the only thing they really lost was experience, not talent. None of those guys got drafted, they signed FA contracts. I always thought that they were starting mainly due to seniority and experience, not talent. I cursed the name of Anthony Scirrotto (and seriously, what is a senior class safety, #7 in the clip, playing a 2-deep zone, doing on this play from 2:44-3:06?) more times than I can count.

As an aside, that still pains me to watch anything from that game.

That being said, I'm most confident that they just reload on the line. They've had a knack for doing that recently and credit goes to Coach Larry Johnson there. The secondary will be the big defensive question mark. Sure they may have a little more talent, but that experience is a valuable thing. In the end, the secondary may be better than last year, but we have to wait and see.

Penn State should be able to get these guys that valuable experience in the non-conference games, which are weak.

-----Rant----

And people should stop bitching about Penn State's weak non-conference schedule. Nearly all top team do that. They play a bunch of cupcakes and one decent/good team. There's no official pre-season, so the weak non-conference games are essentially that. We can disagree with who they play as the 'good team', but recall a few years back how they caught flack for scheduling Bama? How's that game looking now for 2010 and 2011?

Suck it.

---Rant Off---

Oh, and the linebackers? I'm not concerned at all as long as they stay healthy. They should have one of the best groups in the nation.

All told, it should be a very good D again this year.

Lumber Company

The Bucs practically doubled their home run output for the season in Minneapolis last night. Three of them, that's right I said three. The brothers LaRoche had one each and Andrew McCutchen showed he's not just all speed and long luxurious hair. I noticed a little pop in his bat in a game last week, in Atlanta unfortunately the ball hooked just a bit foul, if it had stayed straight it could have been an upper decker... no not that kind. But the power is there, and we'll see a few more from very soon. Anyway, those dirty dongs accounted for five of the Pirates eight runs in the game. Rubber match is tomorrow, I probably won't watch because I don't like anything that has to do with the word rubber. Sorry if I offended anyone by working a little blue tonight. But it's not like anyone reads this thing. It's kind of like Joe Buck Live. Maybe I can Artie Lange it up a bit.

The Secret of My Success

Well, not mine mind you, but perhaps the Pirates' pitching staff's for this year and beyond.

Although not as wonderful as the movie of the same name, I stumbled upon this article today that was exceptionally good.

In today's Trib, there was an in-depth article about how the Pirates are forcing pitchers to develop a changeup.

I couldn't agree more with the article. The changeup is a tremendous pitch to have. I used to love watching Pedro Martinez, back in the late 90's/early 2000's, making hitters look like complete jokes swinging at his change.

The entire article is fabulous, please read it, but here are some excerpts:

"Stark (farm director - edit) has implemented pitch-usage goals for each level of the minors. Pitchers must throw a specific number of changes in each outing, and each pitcher's plan is reviewed in three-outing increments.

If a pitcher is relying on another pitch at the expense of the changeup, he will not be allowed to throw that pitch for an inning or two in an outing."

Brilliant!!

"The Pirates also use a carrot-and-stick approach. Pitchers who do not throw enough changeups will be intentionally held back from promotions to the next level."

Brilliant again!!

"The Pirates have three basic rules for every pitcher in their system, from teenagers at the Dominican academy to the veterans in the majors.

Command the four-seam fastball. Pitch aggressively in the strike zone to contact. Master the changeup."

Beautiful!!

Ya gotta love what's gong on right now with the Pirates in their entire organization and the changes made since Neil Huntington took over, not just in personnel, but in mindset and the overall plan.

Excuse me now, as I go back to drinking my Pirates' Kool-Aid.

Party Time

Well, apparently it was quite a party downtown today for the Stanley Cup Champion Pens. Of course some of us have to work, so all we can do is read about it.

I don't think that we've seen a "party time" moment such as this since these two, the real megapowers, came together.

Although the biggest news of the day, according to Empty Netters, is that KDKA's Sonni Abatta, (a former co-worker/stalker victim of the Vegas Jesus) stepped in horse shit.

Enjoy it Pens, have a whole Summer of partying down.

The Dust Settles

Now that the Stanley Cup finals are in the books and Steelers training camp is still more than a month away the Pirates are the only Pittsburgh sports team to pay attention to. And hey look at that, things aren't too bad. Right now they sit four games out of first place, and three games away from the blessed .500 mark. While everyone is still moaning about the McLouth trade, the Pirates have swept the Mets, lost a series to Houston, split a series with the Braves and took two out of three from Detroit. Next up, a trip to the Minnesota to play a three-game series with the Twins. The Twins are second in the AL Central but are two game below .500. Follow that up with a trip to play the red-hot Rockies. They won their 11th in a row today, but it was against Seattle so that may get an asterisk. My point is, things aren't so bad despite what you might read in the PG's special sports mailbag. Here's my favorite.

"My 9-year-old son plays baseball and just recently began following the Pirates. He loves them and gets up an hour early every day to watch SportsCenter to see what has happened with the Pirates. This morning, he asked me, "Mom, why would the Pirates trade Nate McLouth?" I could not answer. Mr. Nutting, could you please answer my son?"

Well, ma'am. I'll explain it for him. Anytime you can get three players for a guy who hits .250 you do it. Even though the cranky guy on the radio says the three guys stink. Because you never know. Besides baseball players are here one day and gone the next. I'll hook you up with a 9-year-old Rangers fan who loved Mark Texiera. He was traded to the Braves, then to the Angels, then cashed in big with the Yanks. It happens. This isn't 1958, guys get traded and sign with new teams all the time. Sometimes you think the deal stinks. If you don't like it, direct your anger towards a dead guy named Curt Flood. And son, you should be commended for sitting through SportsCenter to see 20 seconds of Pirates highlights after the "Who's More Now" segment.

Champs

Like the Jesus said in the prior post, Champs.

Nothing else need be said.

Congrats Pens.

Pittsburgh Beats Detroit!

Well, that was exciting. When they're still playing after the horn goes off I guess it was a good game. Hossa looks like an ass, and so do I. Behave yourself out there tonight kids.

Pittsburgh Loses to Detroit!

I'm have to admit, I am amazed that there are about 18,000 people just like me that would have chosen Pirates - Tigers over Red Wings - Penguins Game 7.

Clean Up This Mess!

Just a few house cleaning issues before tonight's big game, as I scan through the P-G's breaking news box. Pirates sign number one pick Sanchez. That was easy. Just the way they wanted it. Now they have to try and get those high school kids. Steelers also signed some picks, including my pick for soon to be fan favorite, Frank "The Tank" Summers. And finally, Ben Roethlisberger played golf and it was breathtaking.

One last thing. I think, now I say think because it was about 4:00 AM, I heard on Sportcenter that the last team to win a Game 7 on the road in any sport was drumroll please... The 1979 Pirates.

Game 7

Well, there's not much more to say.

Inspirational speeches aren't necessary.

Hardcore motivational speeches won't be needed.

If a player in this game tonight needs something like that, then they shouldn't be lacing up their skates.

There's hokey numbers and stats, like this is the 87th game of the playoffs, the last team to win a road Game 7 in sports was the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1979, etc, but none of that matters.

At this point, there's only one thing left to do, 0:21-0:31.

Go into battle and "Give em Hell".

The Pirates' Draft

Yes, that's A-Rod, no, it's not Pirate-related, but it is draft-related. That's when he got the call on draft day in 1993. Rockin' the jean shirt and tie...nuff said.

Game 7 deserves its own post later on and yesterday's thrilling Pirates' win was taken care of by a West Coaster with a little to do as I, so I wanted to finally delve into some opinions on the Pirates' draft.

My kneejerk reaction to the Round 1 pick on Tuesday was that it was a Littlefield reincarnation of "signability". Reading opinions over the last few days and hearing arguments from both sides, I have come to a couple opinions of my own.

In addition to Sanchez, they spent the next couple days taking a ton of high school arms. This is a great strategy for a team that's rebuilding their broken system. Herein also lies where my initial thought about "penny pinching Pirates again" gets kinda blown up and I've changed my mind some.

Last year, the Pirates spent the second most money in all of MLB on the draft, helped out of course by Alvarez's contract.

Taking all of those high school arms usually commands more signing bonus money because a team has to overspend a tad to get those kids to not go to big time colleges, where the thinking is that we get them earlier in their careers and in later rounds before they become dominant college pitchers with a track record that would then go in the first round(s) in a few years and command more money. Also, getting a pitcher out of high school, before college, makes it better for a MLB team to groom the player and keep them healthy. College coaches can ruin arms tremendously through bad mechanics and especially by overusing them.

Anyway, with all of those bigger bonuses that we will have to pay out to sign these kids, we very well could end up very high (top 5 I'd say for sure) on the list again of money spent in the draft, which is exactly where the Pirates need to be since we don't spend on the ML roster.

Now for some "expert" opinions.

First is Jim Callis from 'Baseball America'. He had this to say in an ESPN chat the other day:

"The Pirates said before the draft that if they took a below-slot guy (Tony Sanchez) at No. 4, they'd put the money into later picks. Looks like they'll do that, as they've taken several talented guys today who could be costly: Texas HS lefties Zack Dodson and Colton Cain, Louisiana HS righty Zack Von Rosenberg (a personal favorite) and Arizona prep righty Trent Stevenson."

Next is Keith Law, who is ESPN's 'Mel Kiper of the MLB Draft':

"Pittsburgh's selection of Tony Sanchez at No. 4 overall on Tuesday was the most controversial pick of the day, but the Pirates did do one thing they promised, taking some tough-sign high school pitchers on Wednesday. Their philosophy is that high school arms are so volatile that paying premium prices in the first round is a poor strategy, and that the value of that first pick (when you might get a premium bat or college arm) is too high to surrender, so try to stockpile young arms in later rounds. Whether Sanchez was the best pick for slot is another question -- I don't think he was -- but the idea of adding young arms who fell due to signability reasons is a sound one, and they added four good ones, two from my top 100 in Jordan Cooper and Zach Von Rosenburg and two who would have ranked in the next 50 or so players in Colton Cain and Trent Stevenson. Stevenson and Cooper both looked like top-two-round picks last summer, but neither had a good spring, with Stephenson losing a little velocity and Cooper pitching very inconsistently until late in the season. If the Pirates sign three of those four kids, it's a great draft, and if they sign two, it's still a good one."

Next is a take on the draft as a whole that made a lot of sense, and this is from a message board poster on the 'Buccos Forum':

"Occasionally there is a "can't miss" player, but that phenomenom is somewhat rare. Just review the history to see how many players drafted in the first two rounds over the past ten years have actually had much impact at the ML level....

HAVING SAID THAT, there is an mportant caveat when it comes to the Pirates: they have passed on "can't miss" players like BJ Upton (for Bryan Bullington!!) and Matt Weiters (for Danny Moskos). They also passed on Tim Lincecum by taking Brad Lincoln, but that's not a done deal

Ok, here's the main point: the most important thing about the draft is to get a good mix of players throughout every round. THIS IS NOT THE NFL. These guys are mostly a few years away from the big leagues. Player development is just as important as scouting and drafting!!!"

- buccoman

Another from the Forum:

"1. There can be NO question that signability played a major factor in this pick. The Pirates obviously wanted to avoid the bullshit Pedro put them through last year. This kid will sign probably by the end of the week and be behind the plate in WV by the end of the month. The advantage of signing early and playing immediately can't be overstated enough for a young developing player.

2. I think Sanchez was the 3rd rated player on their board all things considered especially when signability played a major part of the equation. Talent wise though I think it’s just GM speak or just plain bullshit to say Sanchez was the 3 best talent in this years draft.

3. Let me say this on Sanchez's behalf. Sanchez has the look of a player on the come
he is a good player maybe a better than good player and without question the best catcher in the draft. What I really like about him is his work ethic and his character, those two tracts can not be minimized especially for a catcher. He is already a very good catch and throw guy which is a catchers bread and butter. I also think people are underestimating his bat. Look at his numbers this year they match up very favorably to Matt Wieters numbers his JR year. Why Wieters was rated a better prospect was that he hit all 3 years at GT, Sanchez just started to come around this year. Also Wieters was a year older than Sanchez when he was drafted.

4. The Pirates have no catching prospects in their system. The best of the lot is Steve Lerud a supposed offensive catcher who does hit much and as still an average defensively. Next is Kris Watts who is better offensively than Lerud but is worst behind the plate. Then there is Andrew Walker who has some pedigree as a major college catcher but has failed miserably so far and is back in EST. So Sanchez definitely fills an organizational need.

5. If the Pirates do follow through on their draft strategy and spend 9 or 10 mil as they said they would I can’t see how anyone can label them cheap."

-PittFaninVa

One last take from the Forum:

"The Pirates spent the 2nd most in the draft of all of Baseball last year. the Pirates also don't have the lowest payroll of all of Baseball either. Now, Washington should eclipse what the Pirates spend in the draft this year on Stephen Strasburg alone but the Pirates will and should likely end up being one of the top spenders in the draft again. This was CLEARLY something that they weren't during the Littlefield and Mcclatchy years. They skimped on the first round pick and didn't spend much on the rest of the draft. The Pirates are planning on spending a lot of money in this draft, I believe this.

Here is where I differ personally from DK and media guys etc... They view Sanchez as nothing more than saving money, I view this as basically analyzing the draft and placing a value tag on players to what the Pirates believe they are worth,. Last eyar the Pirates believed Pedro Alvarez's value was worth more than slot and worth what they paid and were willing to pay him big money. Going into this draft, the rumblings from the FO made it clear that they didn't view any player that they would likely draft this year to be worth value wise paying over slot for (I agree with that. you don't overpay for players whose value doesn't command it). So they passed on some arms that were likely to demand over slot money and weren't worth it. I'm all for that. Instead they drafted a bat that they really liked who will happen to sign for at best slot and in the end will have a good chunk of change to spend later on in the draft.

Because of this, the Pirates were able to draft all of the highschool players that they did because those players generally require overpayment to entice them to skip out on college and their college commitments to go Pro. there's an upside to drafting Highschool players because those very players could goto college and 2-4 years down the road eventually become First or Second round picks and demand big money. we just overpaid a little for them but still are spending much less than what they could be down the road and if there was any luck in the world we could end up with say a couple future first round picks down the road because we drafted them now.

Some say, well, our payroll is low so we should use that extra money in the draft. That's not how it works and there's no other teams in Baseball who do that. If this is how it were done, the Marlins or whatever other small market team is out there would be spending $10-$50 million more in the draft than other teams. It's never happened. There's a set budget for the draft before the season starts, I don't know how it is determined. there's a set budget for International signings, for the MLB payroll for other things. I don't know where extra money goes, but it's not like the Pirates are the only team with a specific payroll and a specific limit on the draft and a question mark around where the extra money is. More than half of the MLB teams are like this"

- Kipper

So, there are of course the folks saying that it's the same old Pirates not spending etc etc, and that's cool, but really if you step back and look at the draft as a whole, and of course, we do have to sign these players to make this point stick, we are spending more than nearly all teams when it comes to the draft. Also, our system is completely devoid of any young catching talent, so this pick (Sanchez) did have a lot of baseball sense to it as well.

Suppose, hypothetically, that we sign Sano too, then things are turning around for sure and the 'money issue' can be put to rest for a bit. Hell, even without Sano, I'd say we're on the right track to a winner in the near future.

Now excuse me while I finish this Kool-Aid.

Lukewarm Bucs & Hot Makeout Sessions

Things have been hectic lately so I haven't had a lot of time to post and I'll keep this short. Pirates split the series with the Braves. Andy LaRoche had a two-RBI single in the top of the 9th to win today (or this morning if you were watching it on the west coast like I was). I think the less said about the draft the better. It makes it real hard to defend the team when they make a number one pick like that. The consensus seemed to be that they should take a shortstop from USC, who ended up going to the A's. But the Pirates seem to be putting all their eggs in the Sano basket. After that number one pick the Bucs took a ton of pitchers which is good I guess. I don't know, we'll see.

Finally, anyone who knows me, knows that I don't like hockey. But between the term, "through the five hole" and this picture of Evengi Malkin that Deadspin scored, I might be coming around.

Game 7 Tomorrow

This just in though, Bill Guerin = awesome.

Morning Dump, Pens Edition

"I'll meet you in the schoolyard... for all the marbles on Friday night in Detroit!" - Mike Lange after Game 6

The Pirates lost again yesterday, but the big Pirates news yesterday was the draft. I was at the hockey game last night, so I didn't delve into it too much, perhaps another author here can write more, but my initial thought is that we may have went back to Dave Littlefield-esque drafts...

The Steelers got their rings yesterday, and goddamn that's a gaudy ring. I may not be able to lift my arm while wearing that.

On to the Pens though, and whoa boy what a game.

First, the links.

- Laziness and no coffee yet today make for simply a link to Seth at the P-G and his link dump for the majority of today's fodder.

Quickly, one link that stuck out to me was this one quoting Zetterberg:

"You can't ask for anything better than Game 7 at home." - Detroit forward Henrik Zetterberg.

Really?

How about a sweep, or a win in 5 or 6?

The way it was made to sound this series, we shoulda been done after the first 2 games, and then easily we were supposed to roll over in Game 6 last night after that horrible Game 5.

Henrik is talking out his wazoo there. That there's scare talk. He's stunned they lost. Be afraid...

- Speaking again of Seth at the P-G, he does a great recap.

And now for my recap, which will consist of random junk.

Leaving work, we head down and there's really not much backed up traffic, a rarity for 6:30ish in Pittsburgh. After parking Uptown, we made our way to our favorite dive bar, Shale's Cafe on 5th. Who knew it was a person? A few Miller Lites and a great grilled hot dog later, we're heading to the arena. We see one minor celebrity, well, I recognize him because I'm a sports junkie, but we see Coach Izzo. A couple people here and there walk up to take his pic. Walking by, I simply tell him to "take it easy on my Lions this year". He chuckles and tells me that "they need to do the same to him". Good joking around kinda guy.

Like others have said in their recaps and listening to the morning radio shows, there were more Wings' fans there than I thought there'd be. Although, I guess when you're jobless, you have free time to do these kinds of things. I suggest they try this though.

So we go in, get our towels and shirts, sit down. Lo and behold, in the 2 seats next to us, 10 minutes or so after we're there, 2 Red Wings' fans sit down. Now this isn't our first trip to this rodeo, we had Ravens fans that sat next to us at the AFC Championship in January, but this just made me miserable.

I consulted my friend Muss who said I should fight them, but this is coming from a guy who's been in stadium fights in at least 4 different states. I decided to pass for now. They were 20-somethings who had dyed their hair red for the game. Carson Kressley would've been proud.

Pregame, intros, game start. Place is the loudest I've heard it. Guy behind me has some awesome chants. His throat will feel like it has razorblades in it after the game.

We score, finally, after dominating the game, in the second. Place goes nuts. Guys next to me stay seated like they just saw a trainwreck.

Guy behind me still screaming his ass off. We score in the 3rd to go up by two. Beer was dumped on the guys next to me. Classless? Sure. Funny? You betcha. Just as I tell them that "if they leave now, they'll be home in time to get in the unemployment line" (lots of mileage from that joke), they score. Vomit.

So now things are tight, my wife dug holes in my arm at one point. I'm not very manly so it kinda hurt. A penalty, shit. Killed it. Another penalty, I'm gonna die. Killed it. The Wings are coming in waves. The only other thing to see waves like this is the Superdome.

A breakaway chance, Fleury stones it. A scrum in front of the net, I puke on myself like Stan. The Wings' fans are trying to say it's a goal and/or (they couldn't make up their mind) there should be a penalty shot. Sure guys.

No goal, we kill the last seconds and it's game over. Like a thief in the night, the Wings' fans next to us leave.

We wait for the three stars, then leave. Lots of horn honking and random awkward hi-fives walking to the car.

The night was topped off by Sheetz breakfast burritos.

A couple days off, Game 7 on Friday.

Up All Night, Sleep All Day

Yeah, I quoted Slaughter, what about it? Pirates lost to the Braves tonight in what was sure to be hyped, if anyone cared to hype it, as McLouth against the guys who miss him so much they probably just stared at him longingly across the field... sniff. Zack Duke missed him so much he let Natey Boy hit a home run off of him. McLouth's stats in his first game against the Bucs 4-for-7, 2 runs, 1 RBI that came from that home run. His replacement did alright. McCutchen went 3-for-7, 2 runs, 1 RBI, 1 double, and 2 triples. Not too shabby. I guess he's not all hype after all. Anyways it all ended after 15 innings, more than four hours, and way too many pitchers. A close call at the plate that if you ask me the Umpire called the right way was the final nail in the coffin. Looked to me like Jaramillo pulled the foot. Tough loss, but if this one had gone on any longer I think it could have cost the Pirates more resources and another loss tomorrow. We'll see.

Pens = Jazz or Pens = Bulls?

I'm skipping the usual 'Morning Dump' today. There was no hockey game yesterday, and there's none today, so a much needed break and breather is appreciated. Besides, I can't give much a game recap of a game that I stopped watching in the second period. Also yesterday, the Pirates lost, Snell was mediocre to suck, water's wet, and the sky is blue. Basically, nothing of note happened.

I did however want to delve into a column that I saw linked on Seth's P-G blog yesterday. Someone in Denver, and this was so dumb you'd have sworn that Woody Paige wrote it, said the Pens are the Jazz of the NHL.

The analogy he was trying to make is obvious, that the Pens have great players, but they're losers and will always be losers that don't win championships. Ok, fair enough, so far they haven't won any championships.

Look deeper though and you see how this analogy is ridiculous.

The main conflicting point is that the Jazz (and the Suns in his analogy) were teams of veterans when they made it to the NBA Finals back in the day. KJ, Chambers, Barkley, Stockton, Malone, etc were all older league vets that those teams were built around. The Pens are still built around players between the ages of 20-24. If they fail to win with this group and they're all in their 30's, then I'll buy that argument the writer's trying to make.

Also, the Jazz and Suns had the great misfortune, or bad luck, of being good when one Michael Jordan was playing.

Which leads me to making an analogy of my own. I think that these Pens are more like Jordan's Bulls before they won a championship than the Jazz/Suns.

Anyone who is old enough to remember the late 80's (I'm 31 so screw you all) will recall that the same thing the writer of the article is saying about the Pens ("losers", "great players that will never win", etc) was being said about Jordan back then because the Bulls couldn't get past another Detroit team, the Pistons.

The similarities are numerous.

The Bulls were led at the time by Jordan. He was a young dynamic scorer, face of the league, league MVP, most popular player, and the player most opponents feared as an individual. Crosby/Malkin are Jordanesque, the best in the league, MVP's, but not quite champions yet. Substitute Crosby/Malkin for Jordan.

The Pistons were a complete team. They were battle-tested and knew how to win. They had the air of "been there, done that" about them and nothing would rattle them. They also knew how to shut down Jordan. They are a team of veteran champions who know how to get it done and beat the young team. Substitute the Wings for the Pistons.

As we recall, and from the link for you young pups, you can see that the Bulls got beat badly by the Pistons the first time they played in a playoff series. The next year, they played better, but still lost. The following year, they met them again, and lost once more. All told, they lost three times to the Pistons. Each year got more heated and competitive, just like we're seeing now with the Pens and Wings.

All those losses by Jordan and the Bulls led to two camps. One was that Jordan would never be a winner, just a great player and scorer. Another was that he was still going through growing pains. Which is exactly the camps the Pens/Crosby/Malkin have themselves in now.

Finally though, the Bulls broke through against that same Pistons team on the fourth try in the playoffs. They used all of that learned experience from the previous three losses, beat their nemesis, and went on to win the first of their 6 championships.

Now the current series isn't of course over, but since that article was written and was so ridiculous, it can be discussed. The Pens can change the conversation forever this week with back-to-back wins.

Oh the Humanity!

Just when things were settling down a little bit. Less than a week after the trade that shook the world, the Pirates head to Atlanta for a four-game series. I have nothing left to say. But, I'm sure plenty of others do.

In Recovery...

The tag line on the poster sums it all up. I was in California's Napa Valley touring some wineries yesterday. And anyone who tells you that stuff is for sissies has never done it. I think I spent 30 dollars all day, and was messed up. Almost like being at Jack's on the South Side, except you're surrounded by pretentious assholes instead of just drunk assholes. But anyway I think I remember reading on my phone that the Penguins lost 5-0 and the Pirates won by a score of I don't remember to I don't care. I'm sure Utah will have more concise analysis on the Pens game tomorrow. And I'll write up something on my trip to McAfee Coliseum to see the A's take on the Orioles. Matt Wieters was what I went to see, but had the treat of watching former Buccos Rajai Davis and Ty Wiggington. A short preview, Wiggington still stinks.

Apparently Dejan Kovacevic is feeling some side effects as well. I hate to point out a mistake by a guy who's always so solid. But this is a funny mistake so that makes it okay. This is from what I'm sure was a rapidly written game recap from Sunday before Dejan had to catch a flight out of Houston.

"Houston lost its starter, Ronny Paulino, after 1 2/3 when he slipped on the mound and strained his right groin. That brought Russ Ortiz in emergency duty, and he would pitch 4 1/3 innings of scoreless relief."

That's actually Felipe Paulino. It was probably the groin injury that reminded Dejan of Ronny. If Ronny Paulino was a pitcher would probably have to be a closer, or a late-inning specialist because he'd quit after one inning.

Act Like Professionals and Get Over It

This was quite ridiculous to read.

To see professional ballplayers be this outspoken to the press about the trade and to go as far as to light a candle etc remembering their now former teammate is appalling.

Man up guys, jeez. LaRoche, enough of the war analogies and quit being a damn baby.

If I was the manager, I'd stomp this down right away and tell the guys to shut up and play ball.

Again, who's to say we're worse off without Nate? He was our #3 hole hitter, therefore he should be the best hitter, and did you see his BA, OPS, and Slugging %? Pitiful.

How about just play and we'll see how good we are.

I'm Off to Punish Myself

Tonight I'll be in Oakland to watch The Orioles take on the A's. I know that headed to that town to watch two last place teams go at it seems like punishment enough, there's an added bonus. I get to watch Matt Wieters, the guy the Pirates passed on two years ago. I might just break down crying in the middle of McAfee Coliseum. At least if it were a Raiders game someone might stab me and put me out of my misery.

Also, what the hell? I think the PG editorial board is pandering to the complainers, but whatever.

Morning Dump 6/5

Well, it was a great day yesterday again for Pittsburgh sports.

- I'll again cheat and link to Seth at the P-G's general collection of links for the hockey game.

There are a couple of note though to delve into.

- One that stands out is Cook writing that the Wings really need Datsyuk back to win the Cup. Sure, he's a finalist for the MVP, but he's missed 7 games now. How rusty is he gonna be? What shape is he gonna be in? Does a 75% Datsyuk help or hinder? It's a big subplot going forward.

- We can't mention the game without 3 major items:

1. Staal's short-handed goal not only turned the game around, but also may have turned around the series for the Pens. It was great karma since just before that, Malkin had a mini breakaway and was hooked without a call.

2. Crosby was only gonna be held off the goal sheet for so long, but sheesh what a pass he fed to Kennedy.

3. Malkin, Malkin, Malkin. What more can you say?

- There's also lots of talk about Detroit's infighting between themselves and looking tired (which is a major subplot as well at this point). Orpik mentioned it in his postgame interview, and the tiredness is mentioned by the Canadian Press here, ESPN here, and lastly Yahoo sums it up nicely here.

"All that chasing and nudging left Zetterberg bent over at the end of Game 4, the coming off-day needed more than ever."

-Lastly, what's a Pens' game recap without the Pensblog's insight. Well done. Any blog that mentions Hacksaw Jim Duggan as much as they do if just fine by me.

- Lange's calls, classic.

- Vegas Jesus recapped the Pirates' game already from yesterday, I thought it was interesting to see Smizik flip flop already on the trade.

- One more trade take from the Beaver County times. "Knee-jerk reaction" is a good way to describe most of the Pirates fans.

The Outrage That I don't Understand Continues

So fans are really mad about this McClouth trade. The P-G interviewed fans about it before the game. I've said what I have to say about it. But I really would have to like to have read some fan interviews from after the game. I mean as long as fans are going to be so fickle let's at least capture the transition over the course of a few hours. Anyone still mad about the trade after McCutchen put on his show is either a moron, or someone who just likes to complain. I think the morons were outnumbered.

This was my favorite part of the P-G's fan reaction article.

"I've been a Pirates fan long enough to see it every year," Jeff Bennett, who walked up to the game with his son and purchased tickets, said yesterday about the seemingly annual trades of promising players. "Who's next?"

OK buddy, so you're outraged... but you're still buying tickets. Way to send a message to management about what a terrible job you think they're doing.

I say if you're mad don't spend the money. So that means don't buy a McCutchen jersey. You'll have to tape over the V-O-G-E-L-S-O-N-G on the #22 jersey you bought in 2005.

And here's something else for the complainers to chew on.

One more thing worth pointing out. It looks like the Pirates Single A squad the Lynchburg Hillcats are holding a "Trades that Infuriated Pirates Fans Bobblehead Series This Summer." On July 17th it's Aramis Ramirez night, followed by Nate McClouth on August 15th.

Nate Who?

Andrew McCutchen had a better major league debut than Matt Weiters did with the Orioles. His line for the day 2 for 4 with three runs, a walk, an RBI and a stolen base.

More Trade Takes...

I agree with everything VJ said, I couldn't say it much better myself.

A couple other takes.

First, and I may have to cleanse my soul for saying this, but I agree with Olbermann here.

Face it, McLouth had a good April and May last year, that inflated his numbers for the entire year. He's 27 (peak) and hitting only .250ish this year. I was always under the impression that he was a one-hit wonder last year. He's a career .261 hitter for crying out loud and most Pirate fans (and Smizik's dumbass) are acting like we traded away Clemente.

Keith Law, who scouts players for a living said this today:

"Like it a lot for Pittsburgh - Morton could go right in their rotation, Gorkys is a ++ defender with a chance to hit (he hasn't been good this year but he's also 21 in AA), Locke is a high-upside LHP with three pitches who has shown good feel and command in the past. That's a lot of talent - and difficult-to-get talent, since players up the middle and LHP are hard to acquire in trade or free agency - for a guy who is, what, an average outfielder? Fringe-average? Since 6/1/08 McLouth has hit .256/.327/.447 if you exclude his 7 IBB, and he's not good in CF. "

Law was on ESPN 1250 this morning and his exact words to describe the trade was that it was a "heist" for the Pirates.

Law also went on to say that in the offseason, these players that we got plus a SS were on the table from the Braves for a trade for Peavy, but the Braves eventually thought twice and withdrew the offer because they thought they'd be giving up too much, and we got that for McLouth? Sign me up any day for that.

Pirate fans, ask yourself this, stop for a moment and evaluate where our entire organization is as a whole right now, compared to 2 years ago when Littlefield was still here. Now think if we have a good draft and are able to get that Sano kid from the Dominican (or even if we don't, but hey), so compare July 2009 with July 2007.

If you can honestly tell me that we're not better off, then I'd like to hear your argument.

Barry Bonds isn't Walking Through That Door, Bobby Bonilla isn't Walking Through That Door

A lot of Pirates fans seem to be upset at the McClouth trade and I don't get it. I'm not exactly thrilled about it, but with all trades I'm taking the wait and see approach. The sky is not falling, it fell back in 1992. Right now the Pirates need to do anything they can to get something going. Bob Smizik says the Pirates gave up on their present. What present? The present that has the team a few games out of the basement... again. Yes, they're only four games below the sacred .500 mark right now, but for how long? Another nice road skid takes care of that. And I don't know about anyone else but the sacred .500 mark shouldn't be so sacred. How about a nice .600 mark or .700? It's time to stop aiming to be mediocre at best. The Pirates weren't a good team before this trade, they're not a good team after it. But they could be better down the road. And you have to take that chance. Pirates management is in a damned if they do, damned if they don't state. If they do nothing everyone criticizes them, if they make a big trade like this everyone criticizes them. So, I think everyone needs to stop complaining about the team trading the "best" player. Andy LaRoche has a better average after that 0-for-20 start. Instead fans need to get excited about the arrival of Andrew McCutchen. He should provide for a nice little boost in attendance once this NHL finals thing wraps up. It's what fans have been wanting for awhile now. Enjoy it.

Pirates Rocking the Boat

Dejan has the scoop. McClouth traded to the Braves for two pitchers. McCutchen is coming up. Keep checking Dejan's blog for details. But the Braves are making more than this one move. The Atlanta Journal Constitution says they've cut Glavine after 50 years on the team minus a small stint on the Mets.

Grumpy Old Men

There was an article in the P-G today about Paterno most likely getting a big lead over Bowden in NCAA D-I coaching wins. Paterno has said, when he's not been busy handing out Werthers Originals, that he doesn't want the record that way and that Bowden should keep those wins.

The issue of contention is that FSU would have to forfeit some wins from 2006-07 when they used some ineligible players. Sure, it's a cheap way to get the record, but that's the way the NCAA rolls. When ineligible players are found to have played, the NCAA strips those wins from a program. Ask UMass and Michigan basketball, and maybe soon Memphis basketball.

Me? I think that if wins are going to be taken, it shouldn't be these ones from 2006-07, but ones from years ago. As part of Bowden's wins, they are counting wins that he had at a I-AA school, Samford. I think that this record chase should only reflect wins at a D-I program.

I also think that Bowden should have to forfeit wins that he accumulated while wearing that ridiculous hat.

Morning Dump 6/3

You kinda have to see the puck to stop it, no?

Yeah, Comcast still blows, so there was no cable last night to watch the Pens and Pirates. Off to the bar I went.

I think the Pittsburgh Sports' Media just copy each other, the links:

- Starkey at the Trib notes that the Hockey Gods favored the Pens last night after abandoning them in Games 1 and 2. Collier at the P-G says the same thing. I'm still waiting for confirmation that they dressed the same to work today.

- Trib recap of the game here. Seth at the P-G here. Talbot's beard looks great. Gonchar woke up. Crosby finally got a point, but he played a great game that didn't show up in the stat sheet. Malkin was the best player on the ice. The Pens were lucky to be tied up in the game after a dreadful (Simon Cowell) 2nd period.

- Osgood was finally exposed as the average goalie that he is. I heard on the radio yesterday, remember I have no tv, that they actually benched him for like a week this season because he sucked so bad. There were calls from the fans and media up there to have him replaced. Now they all bend over in front of him. The people are fickle...

- Also following the route of copying each other, Prisuta says it's serious now, and Cook says that life is back in the series. I guess they're twins too.

Hey now, how bout those battlin' Bucs.

- Of course, not being at home, I couldn't watch the Pirate game at the bar, they wouldn't even put it on a small tv in the corner. I was quite surprised, when I checked my phone at 9ish, that the game was in the 8th inning and the Pirates were winning. They went on to win as Duke outdueld Santana.

I wrote about Duke last week and what can you say about the guy? He's pitching great lately, and in fact all season.

That's twice in the past week that the Pirates have beaten the NL's top two in ERA.

- The Pirates defense, with Morgan in left covering more ground than Lewis and Clark, has been great.

- Also, in good Pirates' news, former first rounder Brad Lincoln appears to have gotten his groove back. Trib report here, the P-G has a blurb in the Notebook. Last year was basically a wash for him, it was a year just to build arm strength again after surgery. This year, he's looking like a first rounder and is moving up. Lots of good details in the articles, check them out.